HIMSELF 11 



except for a gray-brown edge on flukes and flippers, and the 

 dark brown tips of the flippers, the entire body is pure white. 

 This is true of both male and female when full grown, but the 

 young are bom brown all over and the colour changes gradually 

 as the little whale grows. The white whale is found in large 

 schools and there the colour contrast between young and old is 

 very marked. He has two surprising characteristics besides his 

 beautiful white skin: a distinct neck — though, at that, in any 

 beast but a whale it would be considered a distinct lack of 

 neck — and so much of a voice that he has been called the 

 "Sea Canary." How much that is, I cannot say: perhaps it 

 bears a similar relation to a real voice. It is, in any case, more 

 than that of the bottlenose, which does have a distinct voice 

 and has even been said to have "sobbed"! 



Probably the most familiar of these smaller whales, dolphins, 

 or porpoises, is the blackfish, known also as the pilot fish, 

 grindval, or caa'ing whale. He is a friendly beast, travelling 

 in large schools and in nearly all seas. He is perhaps the one 

 exception to the statement that only right and sperm whales 

 were considered in old-time whaling. Wherever the sperm whale 

 resorts, blackfish may usually be found, since they also feed on 

 squid. Consequently, they were very familiar to whalers and 

 served to practise the green crews and gear; also their oil prob- 

 ably saved many a voyage when sperm whales were scarce. 



No general account of whales is complete without mention 

 of the orca, or killer whale. He has little bearing on the whaling 

 industry, unless as a rival whaler, but as a pirate he is too 

 picturesque, perhaps also too dangerous, to be ignored. He is 

 the largest of the dolphins, twenty to thirty feet long, with 

 forty or more powerful teeth that he uses with frightful effective- 

 ness. Thus armed he is indeed the terror of the seas and the 

 wildest tales of his ravages hardly exaggerate the actual facts. 

 Fish, sea birds, seals, and porpoises in enormous numbers are his 

 daily diet, and walruses, sea lions and even whales are easy 

 victims of his murderous cunning. The big gray whale is in 

 abject terror of him; the sperm whale only, whose lower jaw 



